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Choosing a Therapist

When someone suspects that therapy may be an appropriate way to deal with problems in living, how does he (or she) find out if he is correct and if so, how might he go about finding an appropriate therapist or psychologist?

Often when someone decides to seek out a therapist, a friend is approached who is known to be in therapy or to have been in therapy. That person is asked whether he had a good experience and if the therapist was any good. This is rarely the best approach to take.

To begin with the relationship that arises between the therapist and a patient is a result of their combined personalities. A new person, bringing a different personality into the picture, will combine with the therapist in a different way than the friend did and will produce a different experience for both. Consequently, there is no guarantee that the new relationship will be productive from the point of view of personality match.

In addition, the prospective therapy client will invariably have an entirely different set of issues than the friend. This is usually the case even when they appear similar to those the friend seemed to have had and it may be necessary to find a therapist who has special training or experience in a certain area for the therapy to be helpful, for example some people respond better to group therapy or group counseling than others. Before a person looking for a therapist can select someone who is appropriate for his or her own set of issues, those issues must be identified. Once that is done, a therapist who can deal with those issues must be found.

By far the most efficient method of searching for a therapist is to have a professional assessment done in order to identify the issues the prospective patient needs to work on and then to obtain a referral from a professional who knows different therapists and who can make a selection intended to bring about the best "fit." Even given a background of extensive training and experience, there are therapists who work better with certain kinds of people and who do not work well with certain other kinds of people. We are all "human," after all.

The mission of the New York Counseling Service is to provide an assessment of the issues a person may be facing and to find a therapist who is best equipped to provide treatment for that particular person. Taking into consideration the personalities that would be involved, the issues the prospective client brings to the picture and the training and experience of the therapist, a selection of therapist is made, based on counseling psychology, that is intended to maximize the chances of a successful outcome.